Justice Department sues North Carolina over voting law

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Story highlights

North Carolina passed stricter voting rules after parts of the Voting Rights Act were struck

The Supreme Court said certain jurisdictions no longer needed preclearance for changes

The Justice Department challenged rules on photo ID, early voting

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to block parts of a new North Carolina voting law that tightens election procedures, including requiring photo identification to cast ballots.

Justice Department officials said the North Carolina law is discriminatory in intent and effect. The suit challenges four parts of the law and asks a court to require North Carolina to obtain pre-approval for certain voting law changes under a part of the Voting Rights Act that remains in effect.

The lawsuit is part of Attorney General Eric Holder's response to a June Supreme Court ruling that struck down a Voting Rights Act requirement for a patchwork of states and local jurisdictions to get permission from the Justice Department or a federal judge before enacting voting law changes.

The four sections in dispute are: the requirement of photo ID to cast ballots; the shortening of early voting from 17 days to 10; the elimination of same-day voter registration during early voting; and restrictions on counting some provisional ballots.

The photo ID portion of the North Carolina law was the center of controversy because Democrats said that it didn't include protections for voters who don't have identification and that it disproportionately would affect minority voters.

Photos: The Voting Rights Act 14 photos

Photos: The Voting Rights Act 14 photos

The Voting Rights Act – The Voting Rights Act is often called the crown jewel of the civil rights movement, yet many Americans do not know why or how it was passed. Pictured, NAACP Field Director Charles White speaks on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, June 25, 2013, after the court limited use of a major part of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965, in effect invalidating a key enforcement provision. Here are some key moments and characters in the voting rights saga.

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Photos: The Voting Rights Act 14 photos

The Voting Rights Act – Three young civil rights workers were murdered in 1964 in Mississippi while trying to register black voters. The infamous murders showed that segregationists were willing to kill to keep African-Americans from voting.

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Photos: The Voting Rights Act 14 photos

The Voting Rights Act – John Lewis, a young activist who later became a congressman of Georgia, heads to a fateful encounter on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama during a 1965 march. Lewis was brutally assaulted by state troopers during the "Bloody Sunday" march that made voting rights a national issue.

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Photos: The Voting Rights Act 14 photos

The Voting Rights Act – Marchers during the 1965 voting rights campaign in Selma, Alabama gather for a rally on March 26, 1965, a few weeks after "Bloody Sunday." Black residents were beaten, fired from their jobs and imprisoned trying to vote.

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Photos: The Voting Rights Act 14 photos

The Voting Rights Act – Viola Liuzzo, a Detroit housewife, was murdered while participating in the voting rights campaign in Selma, Alabama, in 1965. Her death outraged the nation and helped spur passage of the Voting Rights Act.

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Photos: The Voting Rights Act 14 photos

The Voting Rights Act – President Lyndon Johnson, pictured here discussing the act with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1965, went on national television to call for passage of the Voting Rights Act. He ended his speech by saying, "And we shall overcome."

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Photos: The Voting Rights Act 14 photos

The Voting Rights Act – Rep. John Lewis speaks after bipartisan House and Senate officials met to voice support for reauthorizing the Voting Rights Act for an additional 25 years on May 2, 2006. From left, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and other officials listen during the media conference.

The Voting Rights Act – President Barack Obama marches with civil right veterans during a commemoration march in 2007.

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Photos: The Voting Rights Act 14 photos

The Voting Rights Act – A conservative judge called the Voting Rights Act a racial entitlement but supporters of the act say it is the crowning victory of the civil rights movement. Pictured, people gather for a post-march rally after crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the "Bloody Sunday" anniversary, March 4, 2012.

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The Voting Rights Act – Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Executive Director Barbara Arnwine speaks during a news conference to voice opposition to state photo ID voter laws with the Rev. Jesse Jackson and members of Congress at the U.S. Capitol July 13, 2011.

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The Voting Rights Act – A supporter of the Voting Rights Act rallies in the South Carolina State House in Columbia on February 26, 2013, the day before oral hearings at the Supreme Court.

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Photos: The Voting Rights Act 14 photos

The Voting Rights Act – The Rev. Jesse Jackson, at the microphone, and the Rev. Al Sharpton, left, deliver remarks during a rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court on February 27, 2013, as the court prepared to hear oral arguments in Shelby County v. Holder, the legal challenge to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.

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The Voting Rights Act – Supporters of the Voting Rights Act listen to speakers discussing the rulings outside the U.S. Supreme Court building on Tuesday, June 25, 2013.

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Conservatives have pushed such photo ID requirements in many states, saying they would prevent vote fraud. Studies of recent elections have shown in-person vote fraud to be rare.

Some voter photo ID laws have been upheld by the courts.

In August, the Justice Department filed similar lawsuits against Texas seeking to block the state's 2011 election redistricting plan and a new voter photo ID law. The federal government is also seeking to require Texas to seek future pre-approval for voting law changes.

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signed the voting law changes last month.

McCrory's office issued a statement on Monday with a link to a video showing President Barack Obama being asked for and presenting his driver's license at an Illinois polling station before voting in the 2012 presidential election.

"I believe if showing a voter ID is good enough and fair enough for our own president in Illinois, then it's good enough for the people in North Carolina," McCrory said.

He said North Carolina is in line with a majority of states with voter ID laws, and said voters without identification will be able to get free identification cards from the state in January.

"Protecting the integrity of every vote is one of the most important duties I have as governor of this great state. And that is why I signed this common sense legislation into law," McCrory said.

In a speech earlier this month at a convention of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Holder repeated his criticism of the June high court ruling on the Voting Rights Act, calling it "a deeply flawed decision that effectively invalidated a cornerstone of American civil rights law."

He said despite the ruling, the Justice Department would find ways to try to accomplish the goals of the section of the law that was struck down.

"We will continue to vigorously enforce federal voting laws not affected by the Supreme Court's decision -- including all remaining parts of the Voting Rights Act," Holder said.

The Supreme Court called the pre-clearance portion of the law unconstitutional in part because of its disparate treatment of the affected states.

The ruling left standing other portions of the 1965 law, which was reauthorized by Congress and signed by President George W. Bush in 2006.